Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning during the trophy presentations after the game. The Denver Broncos take on the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver on Jan. 19, 2014.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — There is no mystery about Peyton Manning and his record-setting performance during the regular season.

The Broncos quarterback is expected to overwhelmingly win his record-fifth most valuable player award during the “NFL Honors” show Saturday night.

Of greater uncertainty is whether former Broncos safety John Lynch will make the cut from 15 modern-era Hall of Fame finalists to the five who are elected.

“I’m trying not to have a whole lot of expectations,” Lynch said Friday. “I’m trying to find some way to enjoy the process. How you do that is appreciate that people think highly enough of you to be in this conversation.”

The regular-season MVP honor wasn’t why Manning came to the greater New York/New Jersey area this week. In fact, when he is announced as MVP, he won’t be there to accept. His excuse will be the Super Bowl game against the Seattle Seahawks the next day.

But Manning wouldn’t mind leaving here Sunday night as only the sixth player to win both the league and Super Bowl MVP awards in the same season, a group consisting of Bart Starr (1966), Terry Bradshaw (1978), Joe Montana (1989), Steve Young (1994) and Kurt Warner (1999).

First things first. Manning is to learn of his regular-season MVP on Saturday, a foregone conclusion after he passed for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards in a 13-3 season that gave the Broncos their second consecutive No. 1 AFC playoff seed. Manning will become the third Broncos player to be named MVP, joining John Elway (1987) and Terrell Davis (1998).

“It wasn’t a very difficult vote,” said Dan Pompei of websites SportsonEarth and Bleacher Report. “In fact, it should be unanimous.”

Manning did not get every vote. Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller, who works for Sirius XM NFL Radio, said he cast his MVP vote for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

“It pains me because Peyton had such a historic season,” Miller said. “He is the offensive player of the year, no question. But having played the position, when I looked at who had the most value to his team, I thought Tom Brady carried that team the same way Adrian Peterson carried Minnesota last year.”

The case for Lynch as a Hall of Famer is his nine Pro Bowl selections. Only Hall of Famer Ken Houston, with 10, has more among safeties. Lynch also helped anchor the famed Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense of 2002, along with defensive tackle Warren Sapp and defensive tackle Derrick Brooks.

Sapp was elected into the Hall in his first year of eligibility last year, and Brooks is a favorite to be a first-time inductee this year.

“How do you put the first two in and not put John Lynch in?” Davis said.

After 11 seasons in Tampa, Lynch played his final four seasons with the Broncos.

“John was able to play in space and play in the box,” Brooks said. “When you think of Dennis Smith, you think hitting, physical. You don’t think a lot of coverage. John did both, and he did both in two different defenses.”

Said Lynch: “I let other people make those arguments. “My résumé is the 15 years I’ve played. I’m very proud of what I did both on and off the field. We’ll let other people decide where that falls.”

MVP/Hall of Fame

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is expected to be named the NFL MVP, and former Broncos safety John Lynch is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the new members announced Saturday night:

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.